The first accessory for RED's 'holographic' phone turns it into an insane camera

Information has been trickling out bit by bit for the RED Hydrogen One, the digital camera company's first smartphone. Besides the marquee "holographic" display that can show both 2D and 3D content with no special glasses, the Hydrogen One has a partially modular design, allowing it to connect with connect with other devices via proprietary connectors.

Now we know what the first of those devices will be: an 8K 3D camera from RED and Lucid, a 360 camera company best known for the VR180 LucidCam, a promising consumer 360 cam that can claim to be an Indiegogo campaign that delivered.

The Hydrogen One will act as the viewfinder for the new "prosumer" 8K camera, which will connect to the prongs on the smartphone, similar to the way Motorola's MotoMods work for the Moto Z family. The whole idea here is that the Hydrogen One will be able to step in and act as a serious film camera for videographers.

The phone's 5.7-inch holographic display will act as a viewfinder while filming, and of course you it stores the footage for reviewing later. While the camera will work with other viewfinders, it's made for the the Hydrogen One. The files will are stored in the HV4 format that's proprietary to RED.

The unnamed camera itself captures 8K through two synced 4K lenses. The result is technically "180" -- a single hemisphere of a 360 video. The ribbed hardware design screams RED, but it's Lucid's 3D Fusion Technology that handles the stitching and rendering in real-time.

The RED's Hydrogen One phone is coming this summer, but the 8K camera will be landing in the fall for a yet-to-be-announced price.